A Chance
by Smeagol Fasir Kenobi
Summary: A new SearchandRescue angel's first assignment. But things go wrong when the assignment isn't what she thinks it will be. Jurassic Park crossover.
1. A Time to Help

Disclaimer: Touched by an Angel is not mine. Jurassic Park is not mine. If Jurassic Park were mine, I would have only made herbivores. :)

A/N: I am not inviting a debate on evolution. My apologies if I constantly switch which name I refer to Ian Malcolm by. Same for Alan Grant. And Donald Gennero. Also, my apologies if I have not spelled Gennero right. And I am pretty sure I am spelling the dinosaurs' names right, but, of course, I haven't mentioned procompsygnothis or however you spell the technical name for compys. Okay, I think that covers any complaints people might have. On with the story . . .

* * *

I looked around. The grass was green. The sun was shining. Some kind of bird was singing. And I still didn't have the faintest idea where I was.

My first day in Search and Rescue and I was already lost. Typical. In the choir, I had a talent for losing my place.

"Frances?" a voice asked. I turned, and, to my relief, saw two more angels. One introduced the other as Andrew and then disappeared.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Sam," Andrew said casually, as if I was supposed to know who he was.

"Where are we?" I asked, looking around. "And what are we doing here?"

Andrew pointed to my left. I saw two cars moving along a road. I heard a bellowing, and looked up. A long neck stretched over me. "We're in a park," Andrew said, "and we're here because something is about to happen."

* * *

_When you walk down the road, heavy burden, heavy load, I will rise, and I will walk with you. 'Til the sun don't even shine, every time, I tell you, I'll walk with you. Believe me, I'll walk with you._

* * *

"Donald Gennero," Andrew said, pointing at the first car. "That's Tim and Lex Murphy. That's Alan Grant and Ian Malcolm in the second car."

I looked them over and tried to remember everything I was supposed to do. But the dinosaur above me was a little . . . well, distracting. "Apatosaurus," Andrew said calmly. "She's no danger."

"Oh . . . great," I hesitated. I hadn't expected this. I was in Search and Rescue, not Extinct Animals.

"So you're Frances," Andrew said with a smile. "Search and Rescue?"

"Yes, to both. And you?"

"Andrew, Angel of Death."

"Why . . . ?"

"Am I here? There are some dangerous animals in this park, Frances, and things could easily go wrong." It started to sprinkle lightly. "The weather, for one."

I looked back at the humans. Tim and Lex looked like ordinary kids, maybe eleven or twelve and seven or eight. Gennero, I decided, was probably some kind of businessman; the suit and tie might've given me a clue. Malcolm looked a little worried and wore all black, but otherwise looked normal enough. Grant looked thrilled, only a little affected by his companion's concern.

It was getting darker, and started to rain harder. The cars continued a little ways, and then stopped.

"Why'd they stop?" I asked.

"Power failure." He started walking towards the cars.

"Can they see us?" I asked, joining him.

"No; not yet."

"What is all this?"

Andrew looked around. "One man's dream. And an accident waiting to happen."

* * *

We stayed there for fifteen or twenty minutes. Andrew explained to me that Gennero was a lawyer, Grant a paleantologist, and Malcolm a mathematician. The kids were the grandchildren of the man who had built this park, John Hammond. The others were here to look it over.

Suddenly, I could hear footsteps. Distant, but very loud. "What can I do?" I asked.

Andrew sighed and repeated the instructions I'd recieved earlier. "Nothing, until it's over."

The others could hear the sound now. It was growing louder, coming closer. A large dinosaur Andrew told me was a Tyrannosaurus Rex loomed over the cars, blocked only by a fence.

And the fence didn't block it for long.

As soon as he saw that the dinosaur was breaking through, Gennero ran for something I hadn't noticed - a bathroom. "When you gotta go, you gotta go," Malcolm decided. He hadn't seen the dinosaur yet.

He did soon enough.

Everything happened quickly. The girl, Lex, turned the light on. Her brother closed the door to the car, which Donald had opened when he ran to the bathroom. Both attracted the dinosaur.

"Can't we do anything?" I demanded in a shaky voice. Andrew shook his head as the tyrannosaur attacked the children. It rolled the car over easily. They were trapped!

I was about to disregard my instructions, rush over there, and do something - even I don't know what - when Dr. Grant lit a flare. He jumped out of the car and waved it. The T-rex turned. Grant waved the flare slowly.

"Its vision is based on movement," Andrew explained to me. "It can't see anything that isn't moving."

Malcolm lit a flare. "Hey! Hey!" he screamed at the huge dinosaur. What was he doing?

"Ian, freeze!" Grant shouted. My thoughts exactly. Didn't this guy realize what that thing was?

"Get the kids!" Malcolm shouted to him. Then I realized what he was doing. If he could keep the T-rex's attention on him, Grant could go get Lex and Tim. But he would never be able to do that with slow movements. The rex would notice other things, like Grant. But if he moved around enough . . .

"Get rid of the flare!" Grant shouted.

"Get the kids!"

"Get rid of the flare!"

He did, but he kept running. The rex lifted him in its jaws and flung him. In the process, it ran through the bathroom. It picked up Gennero and ate him in one bite.

Meanwhile, Grant had managed to get the kids. The rex now turned back to him. He held the girl still as the dinosaur turned the car around.

Everything became a blur. The rain blocked my new human-form vision. The dinosaur eventually lumbered off. I couldn't see Dr. Grant or the kids anywhere, and the car was gone.

Andrew had, sometime before then, disappeared. "Well, he _is_ an Angel of Death," I decided. There was certainly enough death going on to keep him busy.

What was I supposed to do now?

Suddenly, Andrew reappeared, his face grave. "Only Donald was killed instantly," he said. "Where's Ian?"

I listened, and I could hear gasping breaths. "This way!" I exclaimed.

"Careful; they can hear us now," Andrew cautioned. "You don't want the T-rex to come back."

I definitely didn't. I followed the sound to a pile of debris. I moved a board and someone groaned. "Malcolm," I realized. It wasn't too late.

He was lying on his back, almost unconscious. His breathing was ragged. In a split second, I decided my directions didn't apply anymore. Everything was over.

And if someone didn't do something, everything would be over for Ian Malcolm.

His leg was bleeding badly; I guess he broke it when the rex threw him. I realized he might bleed to death. "Help me with his belt," I told Andrew as I lifted his head a little. _'It might help him breathe,' _I thought. Really, I just wanted to feel like I was doing something. Andrew undid the belt. I fastened it tightly around his right leg, an attempt to stop the bleeding.

I looked at Andrew. I could read nothing in his expression. "The kids . . . ," Malcolm whispered.

"They're all right," I said before I remembered he could hear me. "They got away." Malcolm's body went limp.

I heard a Jeep driving up. I gently lowered Malcolm's head back to the ground, praying he'd be all right. "Father, please help them find him," I said quietly. Andrew assured me these new people couldn't see or hear me.

After only a moment, they found him. "Thank you, Father," I said with a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

They put Malcolm in the Jeep and started to drive away. "Will he make it?" I asked Andrew.

"I don't know yet," Andrew said honestly. "But thanks to you, he has a chance."

* * *

If this was a terrible idea, let me know and I will not write any more TBAA/JP crossovers. Yeah, right. I already have an idea for another one . . . .


	2. Butterflies

Disclaimer: I do not own Touched By An Angel. I do not own Jurassic Park. :)

A/N: I was going to make this another story because it's told from Andrew's point of view instead of Frances', but decided it made more sense this way. Just clarifying that Frances has not been turned into an Angel of Death all of a sudden. :)

* * *

Chapter Two

"Ian, freeze!"

"Get the kids!"

"Get rid of the flare!"

"Get the kids!"

"Get rid of the flare!"

He did, but not in time. The dinosaur picked him up in its jaws and threw him aside. I turned my attention to Donald, the lawyer, motionless, terrified.

I could almost feel his fear and pain as the Tyrannosaur lifted him. I could hear the crunching of bones, his screams as the T-Rex's teeth ripped him apart.

It was all over in a matter of seconds.

I somehow kept my attention away from Ian, from Alan and the kids, and from the other angel a little ways back. There was someone who needed me now.

"Donald," I said, "It's time to go home."

_When you walk down the road, heavy burden, heavy load, I will rise, and I will walk with you. 'Til the sun don't even shine, every time, I tell you, I'll walk with you. Believe me, I'll walk with you._

* * *

I stared after the Jeep as it started down the road. "We're not done, are we?" my companion, a Search-and-Rescue rookie named Frances, asked.

She could've been assigned something a little easier for her first time. Something more normal, routine, usual. But the Father had other plans.

"No, we're not," I said. We followed the Jeep back to the building. I placed my hand gently on Ian's forehead and everything faded.

We were in the woods, near a waterfall. Ian, Frances, and I were sitting on the rocks.

Ian blinked a few times, taking everything in. "I used to come here as a kid," he said.

I nodded. Somehow the tall man's simple, single-color way of dressing helped him blend in with this place. It was no wonder that he liked it.

"Andrew," I said, extending my hand. He shook it firmly.

"Ian Malcolm. How'd I get here?"

"Do you believe in God, Ian?"

"My present situation would be a little hard to accept if I didn't. You two are . . . angels, then."

"Yes."

"And I'm not really here, then?"

"Part of you is."

"All right. What happens now? Am I alive?"

"Yes."

He felt his leg. "But the dinosaur . . ."

"Your body is back at the park," Frances said.

"Ah."

"You seem very calm about the situation you're in," Frances noted.

Ian looked at me questioningly. "She hasn't worked around humans much," I explained.

"Well, she certainly picked the right place to start," he joked.

"I agree. Nothing reveals human personality so much as when they are faced with a choice like yours."

Ian leaned back against a rock. "I assume you mean jumping out of that car and distracting the Rex. I didn't come to this island to play hero, Andrew. I was invited. I knew the possible risks. Lex and Tim didn't. Can you say you wouldn't have tried to protect them?"

I smiled. "I was warned you didn't speak plain English."

Ian laughed. I was glad he was taking it like this. "You see that rock, Andrew?"

"That one?"

"Yeah, that. When I was five, I slipped and fell off that rock. Got washed downriver quite a ways, broke my left arm and cracked a few ribs. You know why?"

"Why?"

"A turtle had fallen into the water. I climbed out onto the rocks trying to save it even though I'd been warned not to go out there. For days, I couldn't think about anything but the turtle: Was the turtle alive? Was it okay? Had it broken any of its arms?" Ian laughed. "Two weeks later, I came back out here, and guess what I saw."

"The turtle?" Frances guessed.

"The turtle. And her babies. One of them fell into the water, paddled a little, and climbed back onto the rock. The mother didn't even panic." He shook his head. "Most amazing thing I ever saw."

I smiled. I'd been told about Ian's cheerful nature. None of what I'd heard was an exaggeration. "So how long do we stay here?" he asked, crossing his legs.

"Not very long. Dr. Harding is working hard to bring you around."

Ian smiled. "Wonderful. My life is in the hands of a dinosaur veterinarian."

"No," I said between laughter. "Your life is in the best hands of all, Ian. He saved you that day on the river. And He loves you."

"I guess if he didn't, I wouldn't be here." He paused, and was suddenly serious. "I saw what happened to Gennaro." I only nodded. "Why would the Rex eat him and not me?"

"I don't know, Ian. But there's nothing you could've done for Donald. And he's in the best place ever now."

"I should've run the other way."

"Into the fence? Or towards the kids? Sort of self-defeating, don't you think?" Frances commented.

Ian smiled. "That's something you'll have to learn about humans, Frances. We have a tendency to dwell a little too much on the 'what ifs.' What if we'd stayed a little longer with the Triceratops? What if the power had stayed on for just one more minute? What if we hadn't put the goat there before to lure the T-Rex? Would he even have come?" He shook his head. "Little things. Butterflies. But they make a difference."

"Butterflies," I nodded. "What if you hadn't gone out on that river when you were five? Would you have had the courage it took for you and Dr. Grant to step out of that car?"

Ian smiled. "I have to take you back now," I said. "I should probably warn you; you hurt your right leg pretty badly. There's only so much they can do for the pain."

"And you're telling me this because . . ."

"I thought I should warn you, help you be a little more prepared."

"I'll consider myself warned, then."

Everything faded again. We were back in the building. Ian was lying on the bed, just beginning to come around. "Oops," I said. I'd forgotten something.

"What is it?" Frances asked.

"I forgot to warn him about the effects of the painkillers. He'll be pretty delirious when he comes around."

"He'll find out soon enough," Frances assured me.

I nodded. "You can't prepare for everything. Parts of life are surprises."

Frances smiled. "Butterflies."


End file.
